Professionals

Research shows that attainment gaps for Children In Our Care are evident. In 2017, 32% of pupils who qualified for Pupil Premium Plus achieved the expected level of reading, writing and maths at the end of KS2, compared to the national average of 61%.

In 2021, Children In Our Care were nationally 2.3 grades behind their peers in GCSE English and maths.

Children and young people should experience Quality First Teaching (QFT), delivered by a qualified and experienced teacher with a comprehensive understanding and awareness of how attachment and trauma may impact upon learning. Lessons should be well-planned and sequenced, with manageable lessons and robust assessment for learning.

Teachers should identify gaps in attainment swiftly and seek to close such gaps with additional interventions so that each child is on track to meet age-related expectations.

Teachers should note that some children and young people may have an undiagnosed SEND or deficits in executive functioning. In such instances, teachers should seek advice of the school’s SENCO and / or Educational Psychologist.

The Education Endowment Foundation ‘Signs of Potential’ study identified several academic interventions that had an impact specifically on young people with social care experience. The study can be found here: 

What Works in Education for Children Who Have Had Social Workers? Summary Report [external link]

Children In Our Care and children with a social worker will have, by virtue of needing social care involvement within their lives, have suffered relational and developmental trauma and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Such experiences, as well as disruptions to regular school attendance, can negatively impact on children and young people. Their early life experiences often impact:

• Their ability to emotionally regulate. 
• Their ability to form and maintain healthy relationships with peers and adults.
• Their ability to access learning and retain information.

Darlington Virtual School offers DT’s and other key professionals training around attachment and trauma using a combination of evidence-based neuroscience, alongside the use of Virtual Reality Headsets to focus on whole school approaches to support children and young people who have experienced ACEs, trauma, losses and other stressors. These challenges and difficulties can be overcome with the right environment, support, interactions and appropriately trained adults.

Behaviour as Communication

Often, a child or young person’s behaviour is seen as a choice- we may view unwanted behaviours as ‘naughty’ or ‘risk-taking’, and adults can become caught up in the behaviour itself, rather than what is going on in the child or young person’s inner-world. Adults can often become pre-occupied with wanting a reason and a ‘why’ for a child’s behaviour, when often the child doesn’t know / understand themselves yet.

Darlington Virtual School encourages professionals to view behaviour as a communication and through the lens of empathy and curiosity to try and connect to what is going on in the child’s inner-world. When we, as the adults, remain open and curious we can seek to reduce stress and meet the unmet needs.

Relational and ‘felt’ safety

There is evidence to suggest that children and young people who have experienced trauma and adverse-childhood experiences experience the same over-activation of their amygdala (the part of our brain responsible for identifying threat and evoking a fight, flight, freeze, fawn response) as a soldier returning from active-duty.

Connection, therefore, is key for a young person to build trust in adults and ‘re-wire’ their brains to feel safe and ultimately thrive. Schools should identify key adults who understand the child or young person and can ‘connect’ with them to provide an increased sense of safety.

Connection before Correction Approach

Children who have had a secure upbringing and a consistently good level of parenting know that they are loved unconditionally. These children know that when a behaviour management strategy is used (i.e. a detention for forgetting homework), they understand that the consequence is because of their action, and not as a judgement on them as a person.

For Children In Our Care, their lived- experiences have taught them that they are not loved conditionally, and as a result, any behaviour management strategy (correction) used without connection is viewed as a judgement of themselves, rather than of their behaviour. Children and young people who are social care experienced often have low levels of self esteem and a belief that “I am not worthy; I am not loveable”. Therefore, it is imperative that alongside the curiosity, adults seek opportunities to connect with a child or young person, before correction is brought in and a ‘regulate, relate then reason’ approach is utilised by all professionals. Further training on this is offered by the Virtual School.

Curriculum Content & Yearly ‘Flashpoints’

Consideration around curriculum content should be made by the DT and the team around the child for any topics/subjects that a child might find difficult. For example, a child who has experienced significant loss / bereavement might find it difficult to read certain books in English. A child who doesn’t know their birth-parent(s) might find it difficult to access a lesson on genetics.

Consideration should also be given to ‘flashpoints’ in the year whereby a child or young person might struggle. There are more obvious calendared events such as Mother’s Day and Father’s Day that children and young people can find challenging. However, children can also experience seasonal-trauma, for example, if they came into care at Christmas, the month of December may be difficult for the child, and they may need additional support during this period.

Language That Cares

Language is a powerful tool for communicating with each other, but sometimes the way that language is used in social care and in education creates a deficit discourse about the children, which can evoke shame, blame or implies fault on the part of the child. All professionals must use language that is empathetic, non-judgmental and child-centred in all documents and correspondence. Professionals are reminded that Care-Experienced young people can access their records upon turning 18.

Under Construction- come back soon!